School board takes more freedom from teachers with class make-up policy

Posted: Sunday, April 22, 2001

All around the country, education is being managed from the top down. The federal government tells the states what to do in their schools. The states then tell each school district how to operate. The school districts then tell each school how to function. Finally, school administrators tell the teachers what they may or may not do in their classrooms.

This management style may be effective in getting policies implemented in a standardized fashion, but it completely ignores the fact that the teachers are the only ones who know firsthand what works and what doesn't work with their particular students.

On Thursday, the Clarke County School District was faced with the dilemma of installing a standardized school policy or empowering teachers to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, the school board opted for uniformity over teachers' judgment.

At issue was whether Clarke County teachers should have the discretion to decide whether students can make up missed work or if a districtwide policy on the issue should be adopted.

The Clarke County school district adopted a policy 10 years ago allowing individual teachers to decide whether a student can make up work after an excused or unexcused absence.

The approved change would require teachers to follow districtwide administrative regulations mandating when students must be allowed to make up their work. Under the approved change, a committee of middle and high school teachers will be formed to draft the specific administrative regulations of the new policy. Those regulations will then have to bee approved by Superintendent Lewis Holloway. The new policy is expected to take place this fall.

Before Thursday's vote, board members were divided on the issue. Some believed that teachers know their students best, and a districtwide policy would take control of make-up work out of the classroom. Others said a standardized policy was needed to keep different standards from being applied to different students. Still other school board members said they needed more information about the specific regulations in the proposed policy before making a decision.

We were disappointed with the school board's decision. We believe a standardized policy sends teachers a bad message. It says that school officials don't trust them to make basic decisions in their classroom, such as whether or not a student should be allowed to make up missed assignments. Instead of teachers being able to make a judgment call based on the circumstances of a situation, a uniform policy forces a one-size-fits-all solution that may not be in the best interest of the child or the school.

It also isn't clear up why this issue was even being addressed. It's not as if evidence of teachers abusing or misusing the original policy was presented. This situation begs the question: If it ain't broke, why fix it?

If the school board wants to help teachers, why don't they develop a list of suggestions for how missed schoolwork should be handled in particular circumstances. Then, teachers could decide whether or not the board's suggestions fit the situation. This would allow some semblance of uniformity without taking teachers out of the decision-making process.

We don't like the idea of more bureaucracy being injected into our schools. There are enough regulations and red tape already constricting our teachers. Clarke County school officials need to trust their teachers to make just and fair decisions. But, to do that means first giving them some freedom and flexibility.

This article published in the Athens Daily News on Sunday, April 22, 2001.